Mounting means for an electrical connector



MOUNTING MEANS FOR AN ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR.

Filed June 26, 1967 Sept. 9, 1969 w, SHERMAN ET AL 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 p1969 R. w. SHERMAN ETAL 3,466,589

MOUNTING MEANS FOR u ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR Filed June 26. 1967 2Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent 6 3,466,589 MOUNTING MEANS FOR ANELECTRICAL CONNECTOR Robert Wilson Sherman, Harrisburg, and Edward LealHadden, Mechanicsburg, Pa., assignors to AMP Incorporated, Harrisburg,Pa.

Filed June 26, 1967, Ser. No. 648,633 Int. Cl. H01r 3/06, 13/20, 13/54US. Cl. 339-14 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An electrical connectormounting arrangement which constitutes a mounting panel having openingsextending therethrough, at least some of the openings provided withinwardly-directed protrusions, an electrical connector including adielectric housing and electrical terminals disposed in passageways inthe housing corresponding to the number of panel openings, section ofthe terminals extending outwardly from one end of the housing,projections extending outwardly from the one end of the housing andsurrounding portions of the sections of the terminals, the housing beingpositioned on the mounting panel with the one end disposed thereagainst,the projections being disposed within the panel openings and theopenings having the protrusions bitingly engaging the projectionstherein thereby maintaining the connector in position on the panel.

7 Claims This invention relates to an electrical connector mountingarrangement for mounting an electrical connector onto a mounting paneland more particularly to a mounting arrangement for mounting a printedcircuit connector to a pre-drilled panel without the use of mountinghardware.

It is known, as disclosed in US. Patents 2,911,460, 2,919,300 and2,995,617, to place a hollow dielectric insert into an opening of amounting member and to introduce an electrical terminal having anenlarged area into the insert thereby expanding the insert intofrictional engagement with the opening to for man interference-fit andsecuring the terminal in position.

This concept is satisfactory when placing and securing individualterminals in position in a mounting member, but it is not a desirableapproach when electrical terminals secured in a dielectric housing areto be disposed in corresponding openings in a mounting panel and securedin at least some of them. Infinite problems would result among which arethe following: individual inserts provided for the openings and specialconfigurations provided on the terminals in the areas that are to formthe interference-fit of the inserts in the openings.

Another approach to mounting electrical connectors on a mounting panelis that of providing openings to receive the electrical connectors andthe electrical connectors are secured to the mounting panel via bolts,rivets, screws and the like as disclosed by US. Patents 2,994,056 and3,084,302. Such an approach requires extra hardware and alignment isgenerally not proper if point-to-point wiring is to be automaticallyapplied to the electrical terminals of the electrical connectors.

An object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connectormounting arrangement which obviates the drawbacks of existing mountingarrangements.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a mounting panelhaving openings therethrough in which sections of terminals in aconnector housing are disposed and means being provided in at least someof the openings and on the housing securing the connector housing inposition on the mounting panel.

A further object is to provide projections of. a con- 3,466,589 PatentedSept. 9,, 1969 nector housing surrounding sections of electricalterminals extending outwardly frornt he connector housing, theseprojections mating with corresponding openings in a mounting panel withsome of the openings having protrusion's to bitingly engage theprojections thereby forming an interference-fit therebetween.

An additional object of the invention is the provision of groundingmeans to ground some of the terminals in the housing with the metallicmounting plate.

Other objects and attainments of the present invention will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the followingdetailed description when taken in conjunction with the drawings inwhich there is shown and described an illustrative embodiment of theinvention; it is to be understood, however, that this embodiment is notintended to be exhaustive nor limiting of the invention but is given forpurposes of illustration in order that others skilled in the art mayfully understand the invention and the principles thereof and the mannerof applying it in practical use so that they may modify it in variousforms, each as may be best suited to the conditions of a particular use.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is an exploded perspective view of an electrical connector,mounting member and grounding means;

FIGURE 2 is a partial perspective view of one opening in the mountingmember;

FIGURE 3 is a view taken along lines 33 of FIG- URE 2 with the part ofthe electrical connector secured in position therein;

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of the grounding means;

FIGURE 5 is a view taken along lines 5-5 of FIG URE 7;

FIGURE 6 is a view taken along lines 6-6 of FIG- URE 5 with thegrounding means partially in position; and

FIGURE 7 is a view similar to FIGURE 6 with the grounding means inposition.

Turning now to the drawings and more particularly FIGURES 1 through 3,there is illustrated an electrical connector EC which comprises adielectric housing I having electrical terminals 2 positioned inpassageways 3 of housing 1. Electrical terminals 2 are preferablysecured in passageways 3 in accordance with the teaching set forth inUS. patent application, Ser. No. 613,966, filed Feb. 3, 1967, but, ofcourse, the terminals can be secured in position in the passageways inany desirable manner. Electrical terminals 2 include posts 4 that extendoutwardly from rear surface 5 of housing 1. Projections 6 extendoutwardly from rear surface 5 of housing 1 as part of the housing. Theprojections surround sections of most of posts 4 adjacent rear surface5. Dielectric housing 1 is made from any suitable dielectric materialwhich contains good memory characteristics. Projections may be providedfor every post, depending upon the application.

Mounting member 7 is a metallic mounting member and it has openings 8corresponding to the number of posts 4 of electrical terminalsZYOpenings 8 have a configuration corresponding to the configuration ofprojec tions 6 and a clearance fit is provided therebetween, projections6 having a length equal to or greater than the thickness of member 7.Selected openings 8 have protrusions 9 formed therein at the inner endsthereof opposite the ends into which projections 6 are inserted into theopenings.

When electrical connector EC is mounted on mounting member 7,projections 6 mate with corresponding openings 8 in mounting member 7and the openings having protrusions 9 bite into projection 6 as theelectrical connector is pushed into position until rear surface 5engages mounting members 7 thereby securing the electrical connector inposition on the mounting member. It has been found that if a fraction ofthe number of openings 8 are provided with protrusions 9, such anarrangement is suflicient to adequately secure the electrical connectorin position on the mounting member; however, other arrangements may, ofcourse, be utilized. Placing protrusions 9 on the inner ends of openings8 facilitates the insertion of projection 6 within the openingscontaining these protrusions and obviates channeling the projectionsalong substantially the full lengths thereof if protrusions 9 werelocated at the insertion entrances to openings 8. The memorycharacteristics of the material of the dielectric housing causesprojections 6 in the areas of protrusions 9 to flow therearound, asillustrated in FIGURE 3, thereby tightly securing projections 6 inposition in the openings containing these protrusions. If desired,protrusions may be disposed at the insertion entrances to openings 8instead of at the inner ends and protrusions may be disposed at bothends of the openings but oifset from each other.

Protrusions 9 are readily formed in selected openings 8 by means of aspecial punch that fits the openings and is provided with projections todisrupt the area surrounding the openings thereby forming protrusions 9.The protrusions formed in the selected openings are formed in accordancewith a balanced arrangement in order to preclude misalignment of posts 4when protrusions 9 dig into projections 6.

In view of the fact that mounting member 7 is a metallic member, it isdesirable in some cases to make mounting member 7 a ground plane andthereby connect some of terminals 2 thereto in order to ground same. Ifthis is the case, a grounding collar is utilized for this purpose and isinserted within an opening 8 which contains no protrusions 9 and ashorter projection 6a. Grounding collar 10 comprises an annular member11 conforming to the configuration of opening 8 and is of such diameterso as to frictionally engage same. Grooves 12 are formed in an exteriorsurface of annular member 11 to increase metal to metal intimacy withopening 8. Opposed pairs of spring fingers 13 are disposed internally ofannular member 11 and they are directed toward the axis of groundingcollar 10. One pair of spring fingers 13 makes spring contact with thenarrow edges of a post whether the post is truly centered or off-centerdue to tolerance build-up. The other pair of spring fingers aidsautomated assembly of the grounding collars in position in the mountingmember as well as to prevent the post from being moved too far out ofalignment when lateral forces are applied thereto. Arcuate depressions14 are disposed in the free ends of spring fingers 13 and may or may notassist in the electrical engagement with the edges of post 4. Grooves 12provide sharp edges so as to scrub the surfaces of openings 8 in orderto make a good electrical connection therewith, especially if theopenings have a chemical conversion coating or if the mounting member ismade of aluminum to scrape through the aluminum oxide coating.

Grounding collar 10 therefore effects electrical grounding of selectedwire posts to the mounting member without sacrificing a connectionposition on the posts in view of the grounding collar being disposedwithin the opening and thereby being flush with the surface of themounting member adjacent thereto. Grounding collar 10 also may help tohold the post in position within the openings of the mounting member.

The present invention can be used in conjunction with mounting anelectrical connector in openings in a mounting member whereinprojections 6 of the dielectric housing surround sections of all of theelectrical terminals and selected ones of the openings in the mountingmember are provided with protrusions to bitingly engage correspondingprojections of the dielectric housing to secure the electrical connectorin position on the mounting member. The invention is also directed tothe use of a grounding collar to electrically ground selected posts tothe mounting member.

It will, therefore, be appreciated that the aforementioned and otherdesirable objects have been achieved; however, it should be emphasizedthat the particular embodiment of the invention, which is shown anddescribed herein, is intended as merely illustrative and not asrestrictive of the invention.

The invention is claimed in accordance with the following:

1. An electrical connector mounting arrangement comprising a mountingpanel having openings extending therethrough, at least some of theopenings provided with inwardly-directed deformed protrusions formed ofthe material defining the openings, an electrical connector including adielectric housing and electrical terminals disposed in at least some ofpassageways in the housing, sections of the terminals extendingoutwardly from one end of the housing, projections extending outwardlyfrom the one end of the housing and surrounding portions of the sectionsof the terminals, the housing being positioned on the mounting panelwith the one end disposed adjacent thereto, said projections beingdisposed within corresponding panel openings with said openings havingsaid protrusions bitingly engaging the projections therein therebymaintaining the connector in position on the panel.

2. An electrical connector mounting arrangement according to claim 1wherein said protrusions engage said projections in a balanced mannerthereby preventing misaligning said sections of said terminals.

3. An electrical connector mounting arrangement according to claim 1wherein grounding means is disposed in some of said openings in tightand electrical engagement therewith, said grounding means includingspring finger means electrically engaging the sections.

4. In combination, a mounting member having openings disposed therein,some of said openings provided with deformed protrusions directed towardaxes thereof and formed of the material defining the openings, anelectrical connector including a dielectric housing and electricalterminals, said housing having passageways in at least some of whichsaid terminals are disposed and projections extending outwardly from onesurface thereof, said terminals having sections extending outwardly fromthe one surface of said housing with the projections extending partiallytherealong, said projections disposed in corresponding ones of saidopenings with said one surface being disposed adjacent one side of saidmounting member, said protrusions of the openings bitingly engaging saidprojections without misaligning said sections of said terminals therebysecuring said electrical connector in position on said mounting memberand insulated therefrom by said projections and with said sectionsextending outwardly from the other side of said mounting member.

5. The combination of claim 4 wherein at least one of said projectionshas a length less than the width of said mounting member, groundingcollar means disposed within the opening of this one projection and inelectrical engagement with the mounting member, and spring finger meansin electrical engagement with said section of the terminal.

6. The combination of claim 4 wherein said protrusions are located inthe openings adjacent the other side of said mounting member.

7. The combination of a metallic mounting member and an electricalconnector, said mounting member having openings therein, at least someof said openings having protrusions provided therein and directed towardthe axes thereof, said electrical connector including a dielectrichousing and electrical terminals secured therein, said electricalterminals having conductor-engaging means extending outwardly from onesurface of said housing, projections extending outwardly from onesurface, extending along sections of said conductor-engaging means anddisposed in respective openings, all of the projections including theprojections disposed in the openings having said protrusions except forat least one projection other than the projections in the openingshaving the protrusions having a length at least equal to the Width ofsaid mounting member, the protrusions bitingly engaging the projectionstherein thereby securing said electrical connector in position on saidmounting member with the one surface being disposed adjacent one side ofsaid mounting member, the one projection terminating within itsrespective opening inwardly from the other side of the mounting member,grounding collar means tightly disposed in this opening adjacent the oneprojection and in electrical engagement with the mounting member, andfinger means in electrical engagement with the conductor-engaging meansof this one projection.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,179,552 4/1916 Nelson 2852572,588,082 3/1952 Brownetal 317 101 5 3,323,099 5/1967 Spera 339-1263,337,833 8/1967 Creedon 339-14 FOREIGN PATENTS 793,871 4/1958 GreatBritain.

RICHARD E. MOORE, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 15 339-125, 220

